Secretarybird - (Sagittarius serpentarius)

Nowhere near as large as an ostrich, these guys are still rather big and in many ways resemble raptor-type dinosaurs. They look quite regal as they walk along - spending most of their time on the ground.

Also trying to figure out what it is at the top of the tree in the first picture - didn't spot it until looking at the picture just now whilst selecting what to upload. If anyone who sees this has an idea it would be good to know (I suspect it could be another Secratary bird though very hard for me to tell).

They are quite beautiful and it is unusual to see such an eagle-esque head on such long legs

Apparently they fly as well, but that wasn't something I recall witnessing. And occasionally kill gazelles and cheetah cubs... Yeh... Proper carnivores.

I miss Africa.

Mongoose (Herpestidae)

At first I was under the impression that I was seeing meerkats of Lion King and insurance company fame - but no, these were mongooses (mongeese?).

Very skittish, they are very hard to see in the long grass and flee whenever you get remotely close.

Especially disappointing on the meerkat front was the fact that we usually saw them in the company of Pumbaa - until the realisation that a meerkat is also in the mongoose family.

So overgrown Timon.

African Buffalo - (Syncerus caffer)

Has been forever since I posted but things have been somewhat mad since the start of the year - think I should have a little more time now and would love to revisit our trip last year.

These guys are huge and when you see one you tend to see hundreds - they trample the ground around them and move from one spot to another on the wide open plains.

Very protective of their young - which are more than a little prone to defensive violence themselves, these animals have few predators that would think to attack a healthy adult.

Almost always in the company of white herons you can see in the photos, which I will write about in a separate post, they seem to take great pleasure bathing in the midday heat when the opportunity arises.

Tree Frog (Hyperoliidae?)

Saw this little guy (most likely a tree frog - Hyperollidae - someone correct me if I am wrong) climbing over some signs at a viewing spot in the park - first amphibian.

Such a pleasant contrast to view something on this scale after hippos and elephants!

Frogs hold a special place in my heart - short post on fixing up some enamel ones later...

Red fox (Vulpes vulpes)

Now that I am back in London and have a minute decided to post on the red fox (Vulpes vulpes) that is common across most of the Northern Hemisphere - and n recent times the urban landscape.

At the same time somewhat dog-like and somehow not - they fill an ecological niche created by us - life is so incredibly adaptable. They do get in fights with each other, with domestic cats, dogs and are frequently killed by traffic but their population seems to grow year on year - will be interesting to see divergences in various city populations will be over the next few decades.

This guy had a patch of bare skin on his rear right leg, but did not seem to be anything life threatening. Nice coat.

 

Baboon (Papio)

Baboons! Who doesn't love baboons? They tend to be portrayed in a positive light by most of the worlds press.

We managed to see both olive baboons (Papio anubis) and yellow baboons (Papio cynocephalus), though I found it hard to differentiate. Nearly constantly chewing on seeds when not up to something - they also hunt and eat birds, reptiles and small mammals - including the dik-dik!

There was always a member or two of the group that was ready for a bit of action - the pink, rather sore looking rears showing explicit interest - the results of which were very visible as you'll see in a later post.

Dik-dik (Madoqua)

The dik-dik (Madoqua) is the smallest of the antelope species living on the Savannah and in the brush - roughly the weight of a house cat.

The name is apparently onomatopoeic - the females repeatedly whistling the sound when threatened. 

We caught glimpses on several occasion, though they were very difficult to photograph - hiding in thicker vegetation - coupled up and protecting their little plots. They are hunted by more or less anything that is capable of hunting - including eagles and even baboons!

They have great eyesight - defend a known, well defined territory and with their tiny size and narrow snouts are able to pick at leaves on the very spiny branches of the acacia trees.

And the small "forests" that they inhabit - never managed to catch one in the open.

Common warthog (Phacochoerus africanus)

The common warthog (Phacochoerus africanus) was our near constant companion on our journey across this part of the world.

They welcomed us on our first day - never getting too close - often running off with its tail raised up in fear before stopping, relaxing - looking around to see why the hell it was running in the first place - occasionally to be eaten.

The largest of these guys can reach 150kg - a somewhat scary proposition... Those tusks look like they could do some serious damage!

Apparently Pumba has a very short memory span of around 30 seconds by local accounts.

Mothers with young do a fairly good job of camouflaging themselves - the babies are barely visible - though some parents do a better job than others - each of the photos below feature a mother and two young:

And of course running away through a group of fake meerkats, tail raised, before getting confused and looking around in a daze:

And a family group - most likely sisters - raising their young together - if one of the adults is to be hurt or killed the other can continue providing milk to her sisters offspring.

Some photos of some sisters with their babies - small age gap clearly visible.